chilli

Look at a bunch of photos of Cereus, and compare them to a bunch of photos of Trichocereus, the differences will be quite obvious.

Definitely a Pach IMO, curious to know what makes you think it might be Scop PD?

Well, I wanted to do a before and after Spring/Summer shot of my cacti, so I thought I might as well post the photos for all you nosey-parkers out there... And now I decided to remove the photos precisiely because of nosey-parkers, sorry! Anyway have a good Spring, and stay outside!

I'm not sure, it's my brother's dog... someone found her in Fremantle a couple of years ago, and was going to take her to the RSPCA, so he took her home.

Hey Devance, no hard feelings... peace!

Invest in a heat pad... shop around, you can find some pretty cheap (look at animal heat pads as well), or if money is really tight, build one with a 40Watt globe in a box, and sit your propagation chamber on top.

purr purr... Just one quick question though... what's the point of the brackets around "ego stroking"? Your statement [almost] made sense without them.

Well, the one in the middle of the 3rd row is a Macrogonus, someone suggested a macro/pach hybrid... the one on the right of the picture in the middle of the fourth row (phew!) is the same stock (the big one snapped off), the one on the left is another macrogonus, but I think a different variety. There's a thread where I asked for an ID of that first one here: http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/inde...c=10075&hl=

ROTFLMAO

Sorry, I don't know what it is, but I'm pretty sure it's not a Trich... you did say the yellow pot, right?

That's part of the reason why my wife and I don't have any kids. Another part is that the planet's already grossly overpopulated, and another part is that there's so many needy kids already out there.

Yeah, why should spirituality engage our intellect? Isn't it just some kind of emotion?

Hi tst, You tantalized me by saying that "my experience is there seems to be an emerging thread from the heart of all spiritual experience. it has to do with our relation ship with and experience of god," but you didn't say what this emerging thread was! (or did you?) BTW, I have long been fascinated by the role of the fool, have you ever read anything by Os Guinness? That is who I first heard clearly articulate the concept. (google, google) Chilli

Hi Daved, and welcome to SAB, but now I'm confused... wouldn't you be glad if you were a kid who had never been diagnosed with ADHD?

Hey Young Tripper, Sorry, I somehow didn't see your post the other day, Thanks for the input and encouraging words... I have been reading and thinking about philosophy and theology for some years now, and the more I study the more complicated it seems to become. I have noticed I tend to swing on a pendulum between a skeptical, rationalistic approach, and a more zealous, mystical pursuit of God. Back and forth, every couple of years, sometimes more frequently... Perhaps the two can somehow be integrated. I think I understand what you mean when you say that "surely life isnt just simply what we interpret or think it to be," but I am having difficulty reconciling this with your earlier suggestion to "research and look into what meshes with yourself and the beliefs you hold." For example, I have been reading a little more about Buddhism lately, and there are many parts of it that appeal to me, with the most notable exception being the denial of the reality of the individual self. Conversely, the Christian beliefs I held for most of my early years also have elements that appeal to me, and others that I find troubling, to say the least. What I always try to keep in mind though, is that I don't expect ultimate reality to necessarily be appealing to me, and I try to be more skeptical about beliefs that do make sense to me in an attempt to evade pure subjectivism. What I mean is that I try to be careful of building up beliefs that simply fit in with my presuppositions about reality, and rather turn it around to examine those assumptions in light of the data I receive from the world around and inside me. I am making it complicated again, but the world is complicated, and easy answers are sometimes too easy. Then again, simple does not necessarily mean simplistic. One more question, Young Tripper... What do you mean when you say "Some things that are true for some arent so for others"? I know, I know... "nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Chilli

Yeah, interesting, I was saying something similar to my brother a few days ago. He was saying "what's the point of helping others if you're doing it for selfish reasons," and I said if you just start doing it, you enjoy it, and then you want to do it more. It's not necessarily selfish, but it just feels good to "do the rightie" as an old friend used to say. I still shy away from the idea of doing it for the good karma it brings you, because it can lead (or spring from) an attitude of doing something for someone to get something out of it for yourself. Nothing unique there. But yeah, I agree insofar as the good that comes back is some kind of inherent law of the universe... or something.

Ah Devance, king of the cryptic monosyllabic response... The trouble I'm having is that, due to the brevity and vagueness of your comment, it's difficult to tell if you're exhibiting your usual devilish wit and pointing out that I am also giving advice, and am therefore a hypocrite, or if your comment is simply meant like a bumper sticker proclaiming what everybody should do (sort of like "plant more trees"). If it is the former, remember the qualifying remark was "unless you know what you're talking about," which in this case I do, and you clearly do not. If the latter, allow me to proffer my own bumper sticker slogan by way of reconciliation: "don't take it personally"

Now would be a great time, as long as it's reasonably warm over there. If you use a heat pad, you can get them going anytime, and in conjunction with timer maintain a fairly even optimum temperature.

Okay, maybe not... As for my take on 'spirituality' as it is commonly defined, I am in the throes of agnosticism. There are so many ideas about spirituality in the world, and most of them incompatible with one another; even within particular sects, e.g. Christianity, Buddhism, Ethnobotany, there are a lot of diverse and often conflicting views. It seems to me that to believe in anything one must either believe in one thing and reject whatever doesn’t fit into that system (fundamentalism), or to believe in everything and ultimately jettison logic and common sense (new age). If spirituality is simply a matter of interpretation, with no actual correspondence with an ultimate reality, then what’s the point? If it is just a certain feeling, then how do we differentiate spirituality from sheer emotionalism? If it is one particular belief, then how the hell do we find out what it is? Regardless of all this, and probably because of my quasi-Christian upbringing, I find myself agreeing with Botanika when he says “Karma is real, what goes around comes around. The easiest way to help yourself is to help others.” These correlate with the Bible’s teachings that “whatever one sows, that will he also reap” and “give, and it shall be given to you… with the measure that you use it will also be measured to you”. I believe that the best way to live is to love God by loving others and to be selfless and considerate and giving, to put others needs before my own and to be genuinely self effacing and kind. The trouble I have is that I find it almost impossible to do these things with pure motives, or with any kind of consistency. Furthermore, when I look out at the world, it seems everyone else has the same problem. Therefore, although I also tend to agree with Botanika’s statement that “most people are just looking for simple happiness, good company and food in their bellies”, I would qualify it by adding that most people are also selfish bloody arseholes.

Sorry dude, but I think planthelper may be on the mark here...

Sorry to hear about your problems, Wandjina. I had a friend who died at 28 from heart problems... that kind of stuff has always freaked me out. Hey, did you ever end up reading The Idiot? My offer to post a free scuffed copy still stands.

Actually, angina is often a precursor to a heart attack, but I don't think Wandjina mentioned having any. Furthermore, ventricular ectopic heartbeats are considerably more serious than the harmless palpitations many people have, as they originate from the bottom chambers of the heart (ventricles), where they are more likely to cause a fibrillation. No offense, but unless you have some idea of what you're talking about, maybe you should refrain from giving out advice on such a serious topic.

Does anyone else sometimes wonder if we're all just a bunch of delusional misfits flirting with insanity?

LOL... "susceptible to prone"